The Marshall Islands to issue its sovereign Cryptocurrency

The Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI) is hitting the headlines for issuing its blockchain-based national cryptocurrency, The Marshallese Sovereign (SOV). According to reports, The Marshallese legislature has approved this SOV to be treated as the legal tender along with the US Dollar. Till date no other countries have approved cryptocurrencies as a legal tender, this is the first time in the history of cryptocurrencies. This will hugely impact the country’s relationship with the US which has been providing the necessary defense to RMI till date.

At a Cryptocurrency conference held in Singapore, it is declared that the Sovereign will be introduced transparently before the circulation is released. More precisely, the currency will be introduced in TRMI which stands for the Timed Release Monetary Issuance. TRMI means the units are to be released in equal allotments via auctions. The units sold during this period are to be exchanged with the Marshallese Sovereign (SOV) after it is launched officially. After this, the proceeds accumulated from selling these units will be placed in Marshallese trusts. These trusts focus on combating issues like climate change or health crisis arising due to nuclear testing or the likes. 

The SOV will be made available to the public through ICO, which stands for the initial coin offering with around 24 million tokens. As per reports, this is a great initiative to combat inflation. The ministry explained that each 1 million token corresponds to 1 inhabited island functioning as an electoral district. However, the cost of each token has not yet been finalized and that would depend on other determinants as said by the Ministry. 

Marshallese Government is also tight-lipped about the pricing structures of ICO and also about the launching platform of SOV. That is to say, whether it is going to launch SOV on an existing ERC20 on Ethereum platform or whether it is planning to start it from scratch. 

David Paul, the Minister-in-Assistance to the President of RMI declared how Blockchain technology helps in creating own money of distinct Marshellese values. He also added that SOV is simple, fair and sustainable. In support of this SOV, he added that the supply grows at a fixed rate of 4% every year. It thereby preserves its value with every passing year. He emphasized how SOV can reduce the compliance burden from the respective Governments. He also addressed at a conference how SOV can help prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. 

The robust compliance features of SOV allows only the verified users to transact through SOV, thereby maintaining privacy. Apart from the eligible SOV holders, all the Marshallese citizens will be eligible to receive 10% of the initial supply.